![]() |
![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
more images |
Many Thanks to Judy Murray and Juliet Martin at Topfloor management Tom Skerrit for his loyalty and dedication
A very special huge thank you to my great friend and manager John Dunford for the colossal amount of work he put into this project
Dedicated to my parents I. J. and Mary. Up the banner!
This is very much an album of friendship and song "Amistad y canciones" in Spanish (for Carlos and Jackson). An old Irish Proverb John Hoban once explained to me: "Bionn dhá insint ar sceál agus dhá leagan déag ar amhrán."
Translation: "There are two versions of every story, 12 versions of every song."
From Galway to Galicia,
Veldons to Vigo,
Dublin to Mayo,
Barcelona to Bofin
'Turn a song. It's the way to go'
Thanks to Dan Gillis and all at E -squared, Nashville. Fernando Conde and all at Galicia Productions, Spain. Donald Miller and all at Donald Miller Management. A1 Bunetta and all at Al Bunetta Management. Paddy Prendergast, Peter Kenny, Mick Clerkin, Alan McBlane, Phil Patterson, Sinead Glynn, Sean McDonnell and everybody at Grapevine Dublin and London. Matt and Mitch Greenhill. Paula Gaffney and Catherine Kirby at Top -Floor Management, Dublin. Claudia Lloyd and Rosie Reid at Tiger Aspect, London and Jimmy Hickey, Dickon Whitehead, John McFadden, Marry Gastor, Brian Larkin and Stuart Morgan
Stephen Gannon, Tim Warbout, Tom Dunford, John Mannion, Brian Hughes at the Abbeyglenn Clifden, Paul Charles; John Hoban, John Prine and John Dunford for helping with notes and song sequencing. Brendan Macken, for his help with tune titles. Also thanks to various extra members of the band: Alex Molloy, Tim Edey, Ed Boyd, Donogh Hennessy, Richie Buckley and Trevor Hutchinson.
Thanks also to Enda Laing, Tom Neachtain, Geraldine Hennessey, Declan, O'Hanlon
The Diamond Mountain Sessions
Steve Earle started the ball rolling for this album in May 1999 when we recorded "The Galway Girl" in Dublin. We had such a great time recording with Steve that it inspired a million and one ideas for a new album and how it should be recorded. One of the things we wanted to hold onto was the lovely easy going and spontaneous atmosphere we had with Steve. Also having recorded with Steve gave me the courage to suggest having lots more songs on the album and to ask some of my favourite singers if they would like to participate in this project. It was kind of scary but also very exciting.
Letterfrack, in Connemara, Co. Galway sprung to mind as the perfect place to set up a studio. I've been visiting Letterfrack for many years now and I've had some of the best sessions of my life out there with some truly great friends and musicians. Thanks to the proprietor Stephen Gannon, "The Old Monastery Hostel" (with Diamond Mountain as a backdrop) became "le studio Letterfrack" for a couple of weeks in November '99. Once we got set up we got some tunes rolling with the "house band" — The Woodchoppers.
The Woodchoppers are the wonderful band I have been touring with for the past two years. It consists of the fiddling Kane sisters, Liz and Yvonne from Letterfrack. My sister, Mary, on banjo, mandolin and fiddle. Tony Molloy from Dublin on electric bass and Jim Murray from Macroom. Co. Cork on guitar. An honorary member of The Woodchoppers is James Blennerhassett from Sligo on double bass.
All the guests on the album seem to have a connection somewhere along the road. Steve Earle is very well loved by everyone in Galway and one of the people he hooked up with is my great friend John Hoban from Castlebar. County Mayo. John is an absolutely fascinating person with a huge selection of songs. John and Steve played some "anti-death penalty" shows in Ireland together in October 1999.
Mary Staunton, who comes from Tourmarkeady, County Mayo, is a singer I have admired for many years. Mary and John Hoban have been playing music together since they were kids. It was actually John Hoban who first ; introduced Mary Staunton and I to the music of John Prine, For as long as I have been in Galway (about 12 years) John Prine has been a regular visitor there and I have been lucky enough to have been in his extremely good company for very many long nights of music and song.
Another amazing singer I have admired for years is Dessie O'Halloran from the beautiful island of Inisbofin, a few miles from Letterfrack. Dessie is long time overdue to record this particular song and indeed to record an album of his own. The Woodchoppers and I and all Dessie's Letterfrack friends were delighted that he graced us with his presence for a couple of days.
Everytime I hear them I am completely swept away by the magic of Liam O'Maonlai and the Hothouse Flowers. I think that their music really cuts through into another world entirely. I have been a huge fan ever since I first heard them and our path's continue to cross all the time. Liam has also frequented many of the sessions in Letterfrack over the years. It means a lot to me that Liam, Peter and Fiachna are very much part of this album.
The first time I met Jackson Browne was at a festival in Millstreet, County Cork some years back, where I was fortunate enough to be involved in an amazing session with Jackson and many more people. Not only is be an 'wonderful singer and songwriter but an absolutely brilliant person as well. Shortly afterwards he invited my sister Mary and I over to Barcelona to do a TV show with him. Also involved in the show was a great Galician musician Carlos Núñez. Carlos and Jackson by co-incidence have also done some "anti-death penalty" shows in Spain together. Anyway, we managed to lure Carlos over to Letterfrack where we had a couple of mighty days recording.
None of this would have been possible without the hard work and musical genius of Dónal Lunny. I am hugely honoured and privileged to have such amazing singers and musicians joining in on this big long party.
Song Note — Disc One
A Costa De Galicia — w/Carlos Núñez — This medley was first recorded by Sharon, Donal, and I in the big Breton project "Heritage des Celtes". It consists of two traditional tunes: the first on is a foliada, which is again a version of the fandango in three quarter rhythm, with its characteristic minor mode; in this case actually a song played as an instrumental. The second tune is a great example, with many exciting parts, of the best known dance of Galicia, the muineira, which is a sort of a jig. (Carlos Núñez),
The Galway Girl — w/Steve Earle — There are women in the West of Ireland so beautiful that their very presence in the room steals the breath from great storytellers and renders them speechless, temporarily, of course.
Two or three years back I took a little sabbatical in Galway to work on my book and NOT write songs. Long days at the word processor and long nights in the Crane Bar, The Roisin Dubh and Arus ha Gael. This is one of four songs that I wrote in spite of myself A year later I was back in Ireland surrounded by women who play like angels and the results speak for themselves. Who is the Galway Girl? I'll never tell. I'm a gentleman, after all. (Steve Earle)
Liz and Yvonne would like to dedicate this song to their little niece Roisin Kane who was born in Galway on the very day of the recording of this song.
The Diamond Mountain — Written by an old friend or ours, Ian Carr from Newcastle, England — a Wonderful guitarist and a great character.
Slan Levan — w/John Hoban — On seeing Van Morrison performing after Junior Wells in the Masonic Temple in San Francisco, December 1993, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on the wild 70s, the woeful 80's and the wonderful 90s and to say thanks to Mr. Van for sharing his gift of song with us. "Slan" (farewell) for this incarnation.
The air/tune is my own called "El Camino es el corazon sagrante" (the road is the bleeding heart) and it was from my walking and listening in the mission district of San Francisco. Gracias and fad saol, Isabela (John Hoban),
The Four Jimmys (The Fitz Theme), — This tune was commissioned by Tiger Aspect for a BBC comedy series called "The Fitz". Jimmy Hickey dropped in to say hello during the recording of this one — hence — the 4th Jimmy. We had great fun recording this piece, thanks Claudia! (Sharon),
A Man Of Constant Sorrow — w/Jackson Browne — I met Sharon when we both played the Millstreet Festival in 1997 and we, with many friends, held forth in the lobby of Jurys Hotel in Cork. This session made me homesick for the time in my life when my friends and I would play each others new songs long into the night. A year later, I invited Sharon and her sister Mary to play with me on a Spanish television show, after which we shut down the local Madrid bar, this time without instruments. I have always loved Bob Dylan's version of Man of Constant Sorrow. It's references to Colorado and California has a lot of personal resonance for me. Adding the last line about Spain made it as personal a song for me as one of my own. (Jackson Browne)
Say You Love Me — w/Dessie O ' Halloran — I first heard the song "Say you love me" when I was in London about thirty years ago, on a small EP by a singer Hal O Browne. I think he was an American folk singer. I never heard anyone singing it until I did so myself when I came back from London. (Des O'Halloran),
The Pernod Waltz — w/The Woodchoppers — We originally learnt this tune from the group Relativity. It was written by Micheal O' Domhnaill and Johnny Cunningham.
The Hounds Of Letterfrack
1st Tune: 'Máirtín O'Connor's flying clog', was written by Phil Cunningham. According to Phil 'Máirtín was trying to get a stone out of his clog whist doing a tune at a gig and his clog flew off and hit the promoter on the head. Ha!
2nd Tune: 'The Slopes of Benbulben' written originally as a hornpipe by a great bow player from Dublin, John Regan. I first heard it played by brilliant piano box player, Karen I weed.
3rd Tune: 'Tae in the bog' by fiddler Seamus Quinn from Fermanagh. I heard this from a lovely album by Seamus and friends called 'Dog big, dog little'.
4thTune: 'The Hounds of Letterfrack' I learnt this tune from an old tape I had 'one summer in Otto's house in Letterfrack with Mary Custy. I can't find the tape now so I've no idea what its called. In the absence of any hard information I have re christened it the Hounds of Letterfrack after the dogs Matty. Daisy, Gaffo., Coona and Bessie.
On The Banks Of The Old Pontchertrain — w/The Hothouse Flowers — John Hoban gave this song to Sharon and Sharon pissed if on to me. I had done a song called 'The Lakes of Ponchertrain' before so it was fitting to do this one. It is like a mirror image of "The Lakes"as it tells the story from the estranged lovers perspective. The tune is from an old Irish waltz called "I'll Remember You Love in My Prayers" and the words are by Hank'Williams ; Snr. and Ramona Vincent. (Liam),
Love Love Love — w/John Prine And Mary Staunton —
Jot Do Porto Do Cabo — w/Carlos Núñez — The jota is one of the variants of the fandango, probably the most popular folk dance all over Spain and an international stereotype of Spanish music. In Galicia, many jotas were composed for the pipes at the beginning of the century and they make very exciting instrumental pieces, featuring both the Celtic and the Spanish flavour. (Carlos Núñez),
Fire In The Bellies — featuring Liz And Yvonne Kane — The first two times in this track are called The Air Tune and 'Road to Recovery' and were both written by fantastic Chicago fiddler, Liz Carroll. The third, entitled 'farewell to Chernobyl' was written by Breton fiddler Michel Fery. My friend Jerry Lombard from 'The Black Horse Inn' Kilmalooda, Ballanscarthy West Cork — a very wise man — once said about Liz and Yvonne 'Them Kanes have fire in their bellies'. (Sharon),
Say You Love Me Remix — w/Dessie O'Halloran)
Northern Lights — Donogh Hennessy, Sean Smyth and Jesse Smith arrived for dinner one night in.Letterfrack. We ended up having a mighty session with the six fiddles and gutter. Sortie of the tunes were captured on tape by Tom that night.These are two reels that were played together on an album called 'Northern Lights' by Kevin and Seamus Glackin.They are 'Scott Skinners' and 'Grant's Reels'. I learnt the first from Janies Cullinane and Bertiie Whelan, two brilliant fiddlers from Co. Clare. The second tune I learnt from De Dannan a long time ago.
Crowley's Reel — Paddy 'Sinker' McDonnell Whistling …
Aires De Pontevedra — Another Galician tune learned from Pat Kilbride of the Kipsbay Ceili Band.